Healing
by TheMysticalQ
Summary: After the traumatizing events of the war between the Underworld, Skyworld, and the Forces of Nature, Pit walked away with a rather damaging condition. The mind can be a powerful thing, but when plagued with memories of his past actions, even the strongest can break. Who will be the one to set Pit on the road to healing, and help him learn to forgive himself?


Author's Note: The idea of this came from the chapter in Uprising where Pit's mind was a ring, and he discovers that his body was off doing horrible things. Once he got his body back, don't you think he'd remember what he indirectly did? I do.

Disclaimer: If I owned Uprising, there'd be less shattering of the fourth wall. Seriously, Uprising literally **SHATTERED**the fourth wall so many times.

/OO/

Pit sat bolt upright in his bed, panting heavily, his body drenched in a cold sweat. He stayed like that for a few moments, catching his breath. "Another nightmare..." He murmured. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "They're getting worse. I can't take much more of this. It's ruining my sleep, and making it tougher for me to focus on training the grunts. They'll never respect me if I can't stop myself from yawning every five seconds."

Pit layed back down on his bed, looking tiredly up at the ceiling. "I wish it'd stop. I could always ask Lady Palutena for help, but I don't want to bother her with something like this. It's been going on since the war ended... I can't take much more of this." Pit grabbed onto his hair, tugging at the chocolate locks tiredly. The force of his tugs gradually increased as images flashed before his eyes. Screaming children watching their parents be cut down in horror, their expressions frozen in fear as he, Pit, the angel who fought for all that was good and holy closed in, preparing to reunite them as he raised his blade and-

"Agh!" Pit slammed his head back against the wall his bed was beside, trying his best to rid himself of the memories. "Stop it! I don't want to remember!" The nightmares every night were more than Pit could handle, and he didn't want to have to relive it while awake.

Pit sighed shakily, grabbing onto two locks of his hair and tugging just enough to feel the tug on his scalp, then fell backwards onto his bed. He stared again at the ceiling, his eyes dark, tired and ringed in dark circles, a far cry from their usual brightness. "I can't do this," Pit murmured to himself, turning onto his side. His eyelids drooped down, now looking across the room at the wall.

The room of Palutena's chosen warrior was a bit messy, but well-organized for the most part. The room didn't have much in it to begin with, only his bed, dresser, and past spoils of battle decorating the area. Staring at an old weapon of his used in the war, Pit felt his eyes beginning to close as sleep started to overtake his mind.

'It's quite a pretty bow,' Pit thought to himself, closing his eyes and pulling the covers over his body. Once comfortable, he opened his eyes and looked sleepily at the deep violet bow. 'What was it called again?' The bow leaning against the wall had colorful swirls around it, though it was overall a very dark weapon. 'The... The Bow of... Evil?' Pit chuckled a bit to himself. 'It's funny... That was the bow I had when...'

Pit's eyes snapped open, quickly throwing off the covers and sitting up in his bed. He stared at the bow in horror, his body trembling as his breathing sped up. His eyes became wide, and he shook his head in disbelief. 'The bow... I had... When I was possessed... And slaughtering those poor people...'

Tears welled in Pit's eyes at the memories that began swirling in the depths of his mind, faint screams ringing in his ears. He fell backwards on his bed, clutching his head as screams left his own mouth, full of pain, of regret, of fear. "I'm sorry!" Pit yelled, reaching out for his pillow and stuffing it in his mouth to muffle his cries. His eyes were squeezed shut, but tears still managed to leak out, rocking his entire body with their force. "'m so sorry..."

_"Weak,"_a voice in the back of Pit's mind sneered out, full of contempt for the chocolate-haired angel. _"_**_This_**_is what you're reduced to over a couple thousand dead villagers? How pathetic! I can't believe that you're the angel that saved an entire planet! It was probably only thanks to that goddess of yours holding your hand the entire way through. What a useless broad, just like you. You're nothing! Just a puppet of that petty, wretched, cowardly little-"_

**"SHUT UP!"**Pit roared, beating against the sides of his head with his fists, all pretenses of trying not to draw the attention of the guards forgotten. **"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"**His voice cracked near the end, but Pit kept screaming and screaming until he no longer had the energy to do so.

Ten minutes passed, and Pit finally lay still in bed, aside from the occasional twitch of his wings. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, his face pale and drained of color. 'The guards here really suck if they can't hear me...' Pit idly thought, squeezing his hands tighter around the blanket in his hands. 'I wonder if anyone heard the villagers...' Pit shuddered, feeling the urge to cry again, but his eyes remained dry. He was all cried out.

Every night since the war ended had been like this for the angel that once saved Skyworld and the earth. They had started out slow, but gradually progressed to the point they were at now. Pit had told no one about his nightmares and voices, since nightmares and voices were not something he wanted to bother anyone with. What he had done though, was politely ask Palutena to not watch him as closely as she did during the war.

Palutena. The thought of her brought a smile to Pit's face, though it was weak and quickly faded. He didn't want to worry her with his messed up self. She was a goddess. Holy duties and all that. Maintaining a realm wasn't a walk in the celestial garden, and it kept her quite busy.

"It would be nice..." Pit winced, his throat burning in pain from his screams. 'It'd be nice to have her help me... But this is my own issue in my own head. I have to get through this, but...' He couldn't. Five months after their victory, and they were still going on. Pit wanted to forget. He wanted peace. But his own memories wouldn't stop haunting him. Tormenting him. Reminding him.

Hurting him. Just like he'd hurt the innocent humans on Earth. Just like he deserved. At least, Pit believed he deserved it. After all, humans, for the most part, were defenseless against higher beings. One in particular came to Pit's mind, making him smile brokenly. "Heh... Wonder... What Magnus would say... If he could see me now..."

"He'd tell you to quit beating yourself up over the past." The familiar voice sounded from Pit's left, causing him to swiftly turn his head to see who had spoken. Pit frowned in confusion, not seeing anyone there.

'Was it one of the voices?' Pit thought, 'It didn't sound like them... And they usually have anything but positive remarks to say.' Pit knew that he know whose voice it was, but he just couldn't place it in his current state of mind. The only thing that stood out was in the moonlight coming in from his window. There was some kind of silhouette in the center of the light, drawing his attention to the window. Pit couldn't see it clearly from where he was, the window built into an indent in the wall, so he shakily stood from the bed and, ready to jump back if danger presented itself, walked over to the patch of moonlight until he stood in the shadow of his mystery visitor.

The figure sitting in front of his window turned his head, chocolate brown eyes staring back into tired and surprised blue. "Hey. You've been having a hell of a night, copycat."

Now with a face to put to the voice, Pit smiled and relaxed. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'M the original, Pittoo?"

The dark angel snorted and stood to his feet, one hand on his hip. "And how many times do I have to tell YOU not to call me that?" He'd never exactly taken to his name Palutena had come up with for him.

"Heh, as many as it takes, I guess." Pit wrapped his arms around his body, turning his head to the side. "...H-how long were you watching me?" He didn't really believe that his dark version would go around telling everybody, so he wasn't particularly bothered by him discovering his secret. Though Dark Pit always put up a tough front, Pit knew that he was actually a pretty decent person. Pit trusted him.

Dark Pit frowned and jumped down from the window, landing in front of him. "Long enough. How long you been doing this? I'm guessing that tonight isn't the first time you've had... Nightmares."

Pit shook his head, looking down at the floor. "It's been a while," he answered evasively, "but it isn't that big a deal. I'm used to them now, so... It doesn't really matter. What are you doing here anyway? I didn't think you'd be the type to visit at odd hours of the night." Pit took a moment to think. "Okay, actually, that does sound like you, but only if you were visiting someone else, somewhere else. So why are you here?"

Dark Pit turned his head away this time, waving a dismissive hand. "Nothing important. Just flying around. But you wouldn't know what that's like, chicken wings."

Pit frowned, looking up at Dark Pit's face. He seemed like he was trying very hard to not look in his direction. "Pittoo... Are you lying to me?" Pit asked.

"Hah!" Dark Pit scoffed, wearing a clear look of disapproval. "Why would I need to lie to you? I've got nothing to hide."

Pit rose an eyebrow at this, not believing his dark version. "Really? Cause the fact that you can't fly on your own but talked about flying makes you look just the slightest bit suspicious."

Dark Pit cursed under his breath, having been hoping that Pit wouldn't catch onto that. "You're surprisingly talkative for someone that's just cried their brains out. You need some sleep." He reached for a small pouch at his waist, untying it from the thin belt that he wore and opening it up.

Pit eyed the pouch, slightly wary of whatever could be inside. With someone like Pittoo, you could never be too careful. "What's in there?" Pit asked, pointing a finger at the pouch in the dark angel's hand.

Dark Pit smiled, a rare sight for anyone to see, and reached a hand inside. "Oh, nothing much. Just a little something to make you sleep a dreamless sleep." Dark Pit walked closer to Pit and pulled his closed hand out of the pouch and up to his mouth. Opening his hand to reveal a light blue powder, Dark Pit blew the powder into Pit's face.

Pit's eyes closed instinctively to keep the powder out of them, and let out a quiet sneeze from the way the powder tickled his nose. He felt an intense feeling of sleepiness come over him, and began to wobble on his feet. Pit's eyes opened just a sliver, looking dazed as his body fell forward.

A pair of arms caught Pit, allowing him to lean against the body they belonged to. In his hazy mind, Pit was only able to register the odd amount of heat that whoever was holding him had. His head lolled back as he tried to get a look at the person. Their face remained blurry to him, but the deep brown of their eyes stood out to him and stuck in his mind.

Just before sleep overtook him, Pit felt himself being lifted up from the ground and carried through the air. "P-Pittoo..." He mumbled tiredly, finally placing the eyes he'd seen to a name. Though his eyes closed before he could see it, the dark angel holding him let another rare smile cross his face. Pit sighed when the softness of his bed met his back, unable to hold out any longer, and fell into a deep, restful sleep.

Dark Pit watched him for a few moments, his smile fading until it disappeared altogether. He had been watching Pit since the war's end. He'd witnessed just how badly his actions under the Chaos Kin's control had affected him. The angel before him was going to need a lot of work before he was back to his usual happy self. Dark Pit knew that what Pit had suffered was enough to wreck the strongest of men, the proof lying in the emotion he'd seen in Pit's eyes when Hades had been defeated. The look of suppressed pain, guilt, and relief reaching him deep inside a place he didn't know existed.

Pit's suffering had touched Dark Pit's heart, and it was up to him to ensure that his other half healed.

/OO/

Author's Note: Oh my poor brain. You have no idea the torture it was to tie up this last chapter. But, it's finally up here. As you can tell, this is all about Pit's road to recovery from PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. It kinda seems fitting that he'd come out of the war with something like that, or at least it does to me. What'd you guys think? Don't forget to leave a review my lovelies, and I'll see you on the next update!


End file.
